Is Diesel Tech School worth it?

You touch their truck you become liable for it. I have been there.
I have lots of mechanical experience and know a lot more about
trucks than my college educated boss does. I had a breakdown and
I tried to fix it so I could at least limp it to the shop. Guess what????
Company idiot claimed I tore up the truck by trying to fix it.

It is true that knowledge is power. It is also true that being
able to do some of your own repairs can save lots of money,
been there many times too. But finding a company who will
appreciate you going the extra mile and actually saving them
money.......good luck. I have yet to be paid for fixing a company
truck along the road, I have yet to be paid extra because I carry
tools in the truck with me. I have had the boss ask to borrow
my tools.......never offered to pay.....

 

Well hell if you are still in, I would go for it, plus I would recommend if you can take some business courses too it would be a great addition if you wanted to go O/O. It may not be a case where you actually do repairs but when you deal with mechanics it would help you make sure they know what they are doing.

 

You may be able to splice a broken air hose if you have a union,replace a light,change the coil hoses to the trailer,Pinch off an air hose and cage a spring brake,but not much else.If your working for someone else those minor repairs may get you home and help you keep rolling but as someone said before It would be great if drivers could just tell us what is wrong other than something is leaking under the hood maybe oil,diesel,coolant I'm not sure because Im not a mechanic LMAO

 

FYI Yesterday I did 4 service calls.A truck wouldnt build air was the complaint (air dryer purge valve),next one was called in as a 3/4 in coolant hose leak which turned out to be a 2 1/2' 90 degree radiator hose,3rd one was a trailer door that didnt get chained open and hit a pole and broke all the hinges,And the 4th call was a blown out steer tire.All the jobs were easy enough for anyone with minor mechanical skills but all required parts and or equipment not found in many rigs going down the road.

 

Yes that would be great. Just tell us the facts, whatever is pertinent to the issue, then let us go to work.

One thing I cannot stand is an obvious SWH looming over me, telling me how to do my job. I once had a SWH bring a truck in because the fan was coming on too often. He's spouting off about wanting me to check fan solenoids, coolant levels, A/C switches etc. I walk to the front of the truck and remove the winter front since it was a nice, warm spring day. Problem solved lol.

 

Something I learned in gunsmithing, and have found to be true with almost anything that needs repaired, is that the WHY is often more important than the WHAT. Also, that diagnostics is the first skill to really develop.

There are 2 types of people who work on guns, and probably applies to people who work on vehicles as well. Parts swappers, and diagnosticians.

For example:

A 1911 pistol is not ejecting properly. An uneducated parts swapper will buy a new ejector (probably oversized so it'll hit sooner and harder). A diagnostician knows that most ejection problems start at the extractor. Therefore, they will start testing that part first to make sure it is doing its job correctly.

A friend of mine had the extractor break on his so he ordered a new one and installed it. Next thing you know he is having feeding, extracting, and ejection problems. After testing the part I came to realize he had order the part in the wrong caliber!

Point is, KNOW the WHAT, DISCOVER the WHY, DETERMINE the HOW. Just my opinion.